Seeking Comfort
by Crisis Rose
Summary: Melody discovers a fear for storms, and Eric is faced with a dilemma. With the help of Ariel can the two bring comfort to each other?
1. Chapter 1

Ariel and Eric sat in silence, doing nothing but enjoying the company of each other. The living room was located on the ground level of the palace, in between the library and Eric's private study. There were two plush brown sofas, the longest of which lay beneath the window which overlooked garden, and the beyond that the sea. The other sofa was slightly shorter, and sat in the middle of the room facing a fire place with a tea table to the left of it. This is where Ariel and Eric sat, watching the dancing flames which flooded the small room in a dim but comforting light. A red rug with gold trimmed edges lay between them and the fire, on which their two year old daughter Melody sat with a selection of coloured crayons around her, colouring in a picture of a park scene. Grimsby sat in the only arm chair, placed in the corner of the room the right of the fireplace, reading his book and puffing his pipe every so often. At the back of the room was a book shelf covering the entire wall, with a small ladder to make reaching the books at the top of the shelf easier. Eric was sat on the sofa with his arm around Ariel, who had brought her feet up and lowered her head to rest on Eric's shoulder. The Prince smiled silently and softly kissed the top of his wife's head before running his fingers through her hair. The only sounds that could be heard was the scribbling of crayons, the rain hammering against the window and the wind winding through every gap it could find.

It was February 5th, and the west side of Denmark, where Prince Eric's palace was located, had been hit with what remained of a hurricane come across from England. Wind and rain battered the coast, and waves rose up before crashing down, and throwing water against the rocks and the north wing of the palace. Because of this, Eric had been sure that the palace staff kept away from the north wing and carried out their duties throughout other areas of the palace, just in case. The constant roar of the storm had meant it was impossible to get any sleep, and after an hour of lying awake Ariel and Eric had decided to come down here where it was both warmer and quieter. In a matter of minutes they had been joined by Melody, Grimsby and Carlotta. The clock read half past ten, and the storm had now been going on for just over three hours and showed no signs of stopping any time soon.

Eric got up from where he was sitting and walked over to the window, lifting the curtain aside so he could see out. Seaweed and rocks lined the beach, having been churned up by the waves and there were several trees down already. Earlier that day Eric had told the people of his kingdom to prepare as best they could for the upcoming storm; and that nobody was to go outside unless it was absolutely necessary. Luckily this hadn't sparked any arguments and the people had listened to their Prince. Sandbags had been stacked up around the houses closest to the beach to prevent flooding and the boats at the docks had been secured. Despite the preparation, Eric knew that it would take a few weeks to clean up the kingdom after such a storm. They weren't the wealthiest kingdom, or even the second wealthiest. In fact, out of the twelve kingdoms within the region, Eric's was ranked seventh. The clean-up operation might be dependent on the help of other kingdoms, and burden Eric with unwanted debts.

The young Prince sighed and released his grip on the curtain, allowing it to fall back and block his view of the kingdom.

"Eric you mustn't worry yourself," said Carlotta, entering the room with a tray of hot drinks, "the storm will pass."

"It's not the storm I'm worried about" said Eric, taking a mug of tea from the maid and holding it tightly to try and warm his hands up.

"Eric, every kingdom's had debts to pay off at some point" said Grimsby, sipping his herbal tea and places the cup and saucer in the table next to him.

"Whoever said we'd have debts," asked Ariel, as Carlotta handed her a hot chocolate? "You don't know the extent of the damage; we might be able to manage by ourselves." Eric smiled at his wife's optimism and took a gulp of his tea, staring into the fire as thoughts raced through his head.

He was brought back to his senses by a loud rumble of thunder. Melody stopped what she was doing and whimpered in fear.

"Melody darling come here" said Ariel softly, placing her drink down and holding out her slender arms to her daughter. Immediately the toddler stood up on shaky legs and stumbled into her mother's open arms. Ariel scooped up the infant and sat her on her lap, kissing her cheek and smoothing down her soft black hair, which hung in curls around her shoulders. Eric tried the light switch again, hoping that the lights might be working now. But alas, the storm had cut the power, and by the looks of it the whole kingdom remained without electricity. With the only warmth being from the fire, Eric decided to sit back down next to his wife. Melody remained quietly sobbing in her mother's arms as Ariel gentle stroked her hair in an attempt to soothe her.

Suddenly the room was illuminated by a flash of lighting for a brief second. Melody cried out and began to sob louder, tears flowing constantly down her cheeks.

"Oh, Melody it's okay" said Ariel softly. But nothing Ariel did seemed to make a difference, and with the next rumble of thunder Melody screamed, her small body shaking with each sob.

"Sshh" said Ariel. But she didn't know what to do and looked at Eric helplessly before looking back to her daughter. "Melody do you want daddy, hey? Do you want to sit with daddy for a bit?" The toddler merely nodded and reached out towards Eric.

"Alright sweetheart" said Eric, lifting his daughter across. He was sat to Ariel's right, so he positioned Melody on his lap so that she was still facing her mother. Eric held his daughter close, almost cradling her and you would with a new born baby. He rubbed her back with one hand and used the other to gingerly brush way her tears. Almost immediately she began to relax a little, and her cries became short gasps. Eric kissed the top of her head lightly and looked over and Grimsby and Carlotta who sat staring at his with smiles on their faces.

"What" asked Eric shortly?

"You were so worried about becoming a father," said Carlotta, "and now look at you." Eric looked down at Melody. Her eyes were closed as she rested her head against her father's stomach whilst sucking her thumb and clutching Eric's pyjama top in her other hand. The sight brought a smile to Eric's face.

"I told you you'd be brilliant" said Ariel quietly, kissing Eric's cheek.

As lighting forked across the sky and thunder shook the palace, Melody whimpered quietly and cuddled closer to Eric.

"Alright sweetheart, I've got you" whispered Eric, holding his daughter close.

"Scary" said Melody, her small voice barely above a whisper.

"It's not scary Melody, it can't hurt you when your inside," said Ariel softly. "And daddy will protect you." Eric looked up at Ariel and smiled as Melody nodded slowly. It was almost eleven 'o' clock now, and Melody was exhausted. With her father's arms around her she knew she was safe, and slowly drifted to sleep. Eric smiled as Melody's head lulled against his arm and her grip of his top loosened. Thunder sounded again and both Ariel and Eric held their breaths, praying that it wouldn't wake up their sleeping daughter. Fortunately, Melody had been so tired that nothing was going to wake her up now. As carefully as he could, Eric stood up with Melody in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Come on," he said quietly, turning to Ariel who had stood up beside him, "we might as well try and get some sleep." Ariel nodded and the two of them made their way upstairs.

They entered Melody's room and Eric gently lowered her into her cot. She stirred slightly as Eric released her and groaned softly.

"Sshhh, it's okay" said Eric softly, brushing Melody's hair back and lifting a blanket over her.

"I love you mummy and daddy" said Melody sleepily.

"We love you too sweetheart" said Eric. Melody yawned and pulled her teddy closer to her before falling asleep again. Eric leant down and kissed his daughter's cheek before stepping back and allowing Ariel to do the same thing.

"Good night sweetheart" she whispered, standing up as Eric put his arm around her. The two of them stood there for a few minutes, just staring down at their daughter, before leaving and returning to their own room. The night was cold, but they found enough warmth in each other's arms to finally be able to get some sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N: Sorry about this guys. There was another chapter posted as many of you knew, but I've decided to stick with making this a one-shot. Simply because I feel that what I was going to write about next would fit in better with another of my stories. So If you want to check out "Prince Eric" then that story will lead to Eric/Melody moments eventually. Thank you for your continued support.)**


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